Light at the End of the World
by Creirdyddlydd
Summary: She asked for a deck...and he destroyed her house. Yamato owed her big time. YamaSaku
1. Home

'YGGTTCB' is taking too long. I want to write this NOW dang it! So here you go. Enjoy!

Also, this story is Yamato and Sakura. Don't like? Then phooey on you! :) This is totally meant to be light-hearted and fun. You've been warned. Smooches!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. This fic is made purely for entertainment purposes and not monetary gain.

Disclaimer 2: As with 'You Gotta Go There To Come Back', titles are taken from a band. Erasure this time. Why? Because I always get inspired while listening to music. And Erasure songs inspired this. :)

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Light At The End Of The World

Chapter 1: Home

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"So Sakura, here are the keys and it's all yours!" Sakura's mother pried open her daughter's stubbornly closed fist to press the set of keys into her palm, forcing the fingers to curl back around them when she was done.

"But Momma, you and Daddy are hardly 'old fogeys' as you put it. You really don't want to move into those apartments do you?"

Mr. Haruno's bright green eyes grew wide. "Are you kidding me?! No more lawn maintenance or household repairs."

Mrs. Haruno cut in. "No more up and down stairs to clean rooms that no one lives in."

Sakura tried to convince her stubborn parents again. "But-"

Her mother put comforting hands on her only child's shoulders. "No buts, sweetie. Your father and I have thought this through. Trust me! We spent many months weighing the pros and cons. This house is just too big for the two of us. You however, are just cresting adulthood. Someday in the near future, seriously sweetie _near_ future, you'll be raising your own family and this house will be perfect for you. It's paid for and still in excellent shape so why not?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at her mother's '_near_ future' comment and then deflated. "It's not the house, Momma. I love the idea of raising any future kids here. It's just that you and Daddy are going to be so far away."

Her father let out a hearty chuckle. "What? The outpost town is maybe a two hour jog for a ninja! No more arguments. Those apartments are brand new and have wonderful amenities. We'll be happy there."

Sakura's shoulders drooped with a sigh. "If you really think it will make you happy...then I'm happy too." She let out a small smile for her parents' benefit.

"We'll see you in a few weeks okay? Come visit once we get settled in." Mrs. Haruno reached up to hug her taller daughter and then stepped away, wiping a few stray tears.

Sakura hugged her father and then waved as their wagon bounced down the path and out of sight.

Entering the house was a little surreal. With most of the furniture removed, it almost seemed eerie. The house had been filled with sounds and smells and life since she was a baby. This was the only home she had lived in until getting her own place three years ago. With it close to empty and silent and smelling of fresh paint, Sakura felt as if she didn't really belong there anymore.

She entered the kitchen, a giggle escaping as her eyes landed on the lighter patch of wall where a picture had been hanging. Her mother had thrown a fit when she realized how dingy her walls had become.

A frown formed when she looked over to the island in the kitchen. Her parents spent more time there reading than they did anywhere else. The lighting was better, they had said. She never understood why they didn't just invest in lamps so they could sit in a plush chair to read instead of on uncomfortable bar stools.

She continued to explore the house, the experience both familiar and odd. When she approached her old room, she smiled as she noticed how tiny it was. "Haha! I won't be sleeping in there!" She jumped slightly at the sound of her own voice and then shook her head, feeling silly for talking to herself in the first place.

Her parents' room, the spacious master bedroom was her room now. She had always loved that room. It had a sort of alcove where her parents had kept a small sofa and a television, a balcony that Sakura planned to enclose so she could enjoy the fresh air, but have some measure of privacy, and a huge bathroom.

She continued her exploration, realizing as she glided from room to room that her furniture would barely put a dent in all the empty space. Twirling a lock of pink, she bit her lip as she contemplated how long it would take her to fill the house. Green eyes closed with a small head shake, it didn't really matter how long it took. The house was hers now and however long it took, was how long it took. Case closed.

She really did need new furniture though. Her second-hand 'first apartment' furniture was nice enough, but it was starting to look a little rough. A few too many Team Kakashi get-togethers had taken their toll.

Shaking that thought from her head she made her way to the sliding glass door in the living room to look into the backyard. As she stepped out onto the wooden deck, it shifted and Sakura stilled. After a few seconds, she gave a little sideways push with her legs and the deck shifted rather violently. "Well, shit." She would need a new deck. From the motion she was getting the old wood wouldn't hold up much longer. Why hadn't her parents fixed that? The deck had obviously been in ill repair for a while. Then again, she hadn't been in the backyard in years, so maybe her parents didn't go out there either and just didn't know about it.

She smiled as determination swept over her. This would be no problem for an intelligent ninja such as herself! Surely she could whip up a new deck in no time. Grabbing her purse, she headed for the hardware store. Her father left most of his tools in the storage room in the backyard since apartments had their own maintenance. So all Sakura really needed was lumber and some nails.

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The odd looks were plentiful as the pretty and petite kunoichi strolled home through the market, pulling along a large pallet of lumber. The stack of wood was taller than her and looked to weigh about five times her own weight, but she pulled it along as if it were nothing. She ignored the murmurs of 'freaky ninja' from the civilians and lesser shinobi, her mood too bright to be dampened by other villagers.

Getting home she quickly made her way to the backyard, eager to see what her handiwork produced.

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Shortly after noon, a sweaty and exhausted Sakura looked at her "deck". She squinted her green eyes and tilted her pink head, but still had trouble deciphering what she was looking at. She thought she saw a stair...maybe...although the top of the structure was a strange place for a stair. A piece of wood broke and fell from her creation and she blinked in disbelief. _'That bad, huh?'_ Giving a sigh of despair, she realized reinforcements would be necessary.

Plopping down into the soft grass, she mulled over her options. Naruto would have gladly helped, but he was just as clueless about this sort of thing as Sakura was. Kakashi would know what to do, but actually getting the lazy jounin to pitch in would be a task she didn't feel like tackling. Sai was on a mission. Jade orbs lit with victory as her mind tumbled to the one man she knew would be the best choice to help her. Intelligent and too nice to say no, there was no doubt he would help her.

Setting off in search of her prey, Sakura made the rounds to all their usual haunts. He wasn't at Ichiraku or the training grounds. She didn't spot him in the Hokage Tower or around jounin headquarters. She knew he wasn't on a mission. The last place to check would be ANBU headquarters. Sliding her badge through the slot by the door, she waited until the little beep sounded, signaling she could pass.

Her low heels clicked along the tiled corridor as she surveyed the passing ninja, looking for a familiar mask in the dim, flickering, florescent light. Coming upon the break room, she glanced over to one of the corners and spotted him filling out a mission report. _'Jackpot!'_

Sliding into the seat across from him, Sakura put on her most winning smile. "Good afternoon, Yamato-taichou!"

The wood user looked up from his report and immediately smiled at the woman across from him. "Ah, Sakura! Nice to see you. How have you been?"

"Great! How was your last mission?" She nodded to his report.

With a sigh he answered. "Successful, I guess. But you know just as well as I do that ANBU missions rarely have happy endings."

She knew all too well what he meant. A successful mission didn't mean everyone came home alive. Death was a part of every mission for the elite organization. Either teammate or target, someone was killed.

Trying to steer away from the depressing subject, Sakura smiled at him again. "I just got a house!"

Yamato tilted his head at her. "Oh, your parents moved after all, huh?"

"They just didn't want to remain in such a big house when it's just the two of them."

Yamato smiled slyly at her. "Yes and you by yourself makes much more sense."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well, if my mother has her way I'll be popping out babies in a year or two." She shook her head in amusement. "I'm in no hurry, but they're hopeful. I seriously don't know how my parents met and fell in love, but apparently they're under the impression that one day..." her voice took on a melodramatic quality "...Prince Charming and I will lock gazes and wordlessly, he'll sweep me up onto the back of his white steed. We'll ride off into the sunset to begin our lives as one, living happily ever after."

Yamato snorted. "In your parents' old house in Konoha."

Sakura giggled and tossed a stray napkin at him. "Shut up."

Yamato signed the bottom of his report and stood. "Well, it's been good seeing you but I've got to go hand this in."

Sakura blinked as she realized she hadn't even asked him for his help yet. "Oh, Yamato-taichou there was something I wanted to ask you."

The ANBU slowed his walk and let her catch up and walk with him. "Yes?"

"Well, today I realized the back deck of my house is not sturdy. Sort of a death trap really. And I hate to ask you for this, but no one else can help me and I already tried by myself and it didn't work out, so would you mind helping me build a new deck?"

The man blinked at the rambling question. "Hmm. I don't know. I'm not much of a handyman."

Sakura seemed to slouch. "Aw, come on! I don't have anyone else I can ask and you can manipulate wood so you're good at those sorts of things right?"

Yamato shook his head. "A common misconception, I'm afraid. As far as structures go, I really only know how to make houses. That's all I've ever trained on so I'm not sure about much else."

Sakura pouted and watched triumphantly as Yamato seemed to crack. Pulling out all the stops, the kunoichi looked up at him through her thick lashes. "Please, taichou?"

Hook, line and sinker. There wasn't a man in Konoha who could resist Haruno Sakura when she looked at them like that. With a sigh, the brunette shinobi nodded. "I'll help. I have the next two weeks off so I'm sure we can complete it."

Sakura's face lit up in a smile. "Oh, thank you! How does tomorrow morning sound?"

"I'll be there."

With a wave, Sakura turned to head back home.

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Sakura woke the next day practically shaking with excitement. It wasn't often she got to do non-ninja things with any of her boys and over the years Yamato had become just as treasured as her other boys. The idea of hanging out without any pressures from work was very appealing. The added bonus of getting a brand new deck was a great mood booster as well.

After a quick shower, she dressed in some loose fitting jounin pants and a black t-shirt before getting a light breakfast. She took a moment to look around at all the boxes in her apartment and sighed. It would be so much easier to get her furniture in through the sliding glass door, but in order to do that she needed to wait until the new deck was finished. Sakura could only hope they finished the deck soon so she could move in and unpack. Having her stuff in boxes was a huge pain in the rear.

With a start she realized Yamato was probably on his way to her parents' old house and took off on the rooftops, racing to get there.

She landed soundlessly next to her "deck" in the backyard and screamed when there was an unexpected 'pop' next to her. "Taichou! You scared the hell out of me!"

Yamato chuckled at the pouting kunoichi next to him. "Shouldn't you be alert enough to not be surprised, my fellow ANBU?"

"Well, I didn't expect you to pop out of nowhere as soon as I landed in the yard!" Sakura crossed her arms and her gaze landed on her creation, causing a flush to run across her cheeks.

Yamato followed her line of sight and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Is that...?"

Shoulders slumped as Sakura sighed in defeat. "My attempt at a deck? Yes."

"Ah." Trying to be polite, the brunette tilted his head this way and that, trying to decipher what was where. When he got nowhere, he merely smiled at her. "Well, it's...very..." He trailed off, not really sure where to go from there. "Um...okay. Shall we try again?"

Sakura's face lit up. "Actually, I was hoping you would use your wood jutsu to make the deck."

"Eh, Sakura, I don't think that's such a good idea. I haven't trained at all on decks."

With a roll of her green eyes, she stated her case. "Come on, I trust you. You've admitted you're not much of a handyman and obviously my attempts don't amount to squat. I think you could do it." With a bright smile, she turned glittering eyes on Yamato and the ANBU captain was suckered in again.

"I'll give it a shot, but don't expect anything great."

Sakura stepped back and clasped her hands to her chest in excitement. "Ready when you are!"

After running a hand through his slightly messy hair, Yamato knelt down, formed a few hand signs and smacked his hands to the ground. There was the expected rumble and wood started to erupt from the ground to form the deck. The neat and even beams fell side by side to form the top and support beams criss-crossed underneath the structure. When Sakura gave a cry of delight, Yamato was slightly startled and lost his concentration. A surge of chakra rushed through him and went into his jutsu before he could stop it. The legs of the deck shot up toward the second story of Sakura's house before swaying towards the wall. Yamato tried to pull it back, but the deck broke through the back wall and the damage was done. He could only watch horrified as the structure rattled and the roof caved on the back side where there was no wall to support it. The pull of the roof caused the front of the house to follow and before he knew it, Sakura's house had caved in on itself.

He sucked air through his teeth and muttered a mild curse before turning wide-eyed to the volatile kunoichi behind him.

Sakura had a blank look on her face before she busted out laughing. Yamato was completely creeped out by the laughter. He was used to the yelling and screaming and hitting fits she was prone to. This was odd and cause for concern. "Sakura?"

"Okay, taichou. Haha, you got me! That was pretty funny. Let me just dispel the genjutsu and see what we have."

Yamato could only watch with increasing nervousness as she repeatedly clasped her hands and yelled, "Kai!"

Sakura began to frantically try to dispel the illusion and Yamato finally laid his hands on top of hers. "Sakura, I'm sorry. It's not a genjutsu."

After a few blinks, he got the reaction he had been waiting for. "YOU DESTROYED MY FUCKING HOUSE!!"

He winced as he tried to create some distance between himself and the advancing and dangerous woman. "I told you I wasn't sure what would happen!"

"YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU MAY CRUMBLE MY HOUSE!"

Dark eyes darted around, looking for an escape route until Sakura started to giggle again. Confused, Yamato waited to hear what she had to say.

"I don't know why I'm getting so worked up over this! Just rebuild it." She smiled again and Yamato gulped.

"The only floor plan I can do is the normal house I build for our missions."

There was a great roar and then pleas for forgiveness as Sakura caught the elite jounin in her backyard.

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Tsunade's gaze flickered between the scowling visage of her apprentice and the almost unrecognizable face of one of her elite ANBU captains. "So, what happened again?"

Sakura retold the tale through her clenched teeth, arms shaking as she visibly restrained herself from pummeling Yamato again. "And now I have no fucking house, because he destroyed it!"

Tsunade sighed. She was seriously going to need some sake before the day was through. "Well, as far as having your house rebuilt, I believe you and Yamato should split the cost."

Sakura opened her mouth to argue but the Hokage raised a hand. "He is at fault for using the jutsu, yes. But you were the one who egged him on. You're both at fault. The other issue is that we don't have any living quarters available. It's a bit of bad luck that your house met its end the week we're doing renovations to one of the shinobi dorm buildings. Everyone living there has already been crammed into all the other spaces available."

Tsunade shuffled through her papers, making sure there was nothing vacant. "Is there a friend you could stay with?"

Sakura ran through her friends in her mind and groaned. Naruto and Hinata just had their first baby and there was no way she going to intrude on that. Ino and Chouji were newlyweds. Lee would read too much into it. Kiba's place reeked of dog. Shikamaru was planning his wedding to Temari. Ten Ten and Neji were on-again off-again so much that she didn't want to be around either one. She was never close to Shino. And she knew Kakashi would say 'no'. "Everyone has something going on that I don't want to get into the middle of."

The Godaime smirked at Yamato. "Congratulations. You just got a new roommate."

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A/N: The chapters won't be long for this. This is just something fun, not some huge epic. Leave a review if you have time, please! Smooches!


	2. Love To Hate You

Sorry about the long wait! School and work are kicking my rear. That and YGGTTCB is top priority for me. I'm at that critical point I've been gearing up for in that one. (Shameless plug.) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

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Light at the End of the World

Chapter 2: Love To Hate You

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Yamato followed Sakura at a safe distance as they traveled the roof tops to get back to her house. He could still feel the murderous intent radiating off of her and was quite rightfully scared for his own safety. Sakura was fast enough to catch him, and given his injured leg and dislocated elbow he'd be no match for her in his current state. Once she was situated in his apartment he needed to go to the hospital and see if anyone there would heal him. There was no way in hell he'd ask the woman who still wanted his head on a platter.

Thinking about his apartment, he had no idea where he would put her. He was a man of simple tastes who only had the basic necessities. A one bedroom/one bathroom apartment with very little furniture and no forms of entertainment except for his dusty, out-of-date stereo system and a tiny, ancient TV set. Yamato let out a silent prayer that the rebuilding of Sakura's house didn't take too long. The tension in his apartment would no doubt be brutal.

The duo landed in Sakura's yard and began to sift through the debris, looking for anything Sakura wanted to put in storage to keep it safe. Yamato was carefully shifting boards to look underneath them when a choked sound caught his attention.

Sakura stood staring at an old wooden dresser, running a hand over a broken side. Huge, fat tears rolled down her cheeks and when she felt Yamato looking at her, the expression went from heartbroken to furious.

Yamato sighed before painfully speaking through his cracked lips. "I know I've said it many times already and it doesn't change anything, but I really am sorry, Sakura."

Pink hair hid her face as she spoke quietly. "This is a family heirloom. It was my great-grandmother's dresser, my grandmother's then my mother's and now it's mine. If I ever had a daughter, it would have been hers. My great-great-grandfather built it by hand. But now..." she trailed a trembling hand over the cracked wood and let out another sob.

Yamato felt the guilt stab him in the gut. Yes, Sakura had goaded him into using the jutsu, but he was the wood-summoner. He should have held firm and told her 'no', but that pouty lip and those endless green eyes were dangerous. He stepped over to her and held his good hand up to the dresser. Sakura watched in fascination as he performed what looked like a medical ninjutsu on the structure. The wood closed up and mended until you couldn't tell it had ever been broken.

Yamato sighed again, tired from the day's activities. "I really am sorry."

Sakura went from awed back to mad in no time at all. She huffed and pulled the dresser over to her parents' storage shed, gently maneuvering the dresser inside. "This is the only thing I wanted to keep. The rest is replaceable."

"Do we need to stop by your old apartment and get your stuff?"

Sakura groaned. "Yes. It's already been rented to someone else so I need to be cleared out by tomorrow morning."

Yamato was in favor of rounding up some of her other friends to help, but Sakura took more evil glee in making the poor man produce a few shadow clones. Not only was Yamato in great pain, but now his chakra was diminishing at a fast pace as he and his clones were forced to haul the largest and heaviest of the boxes and furniture out of the apartment.

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Sakura set the last box in the rented out storage space and leaned backwards until a satisfying pop came from her back. "That's it."

Yamato nodded and limped his way into the office. "I'll take care of the bill. Meet you at the entrance."

Sakura smirked slightly, feeling a bit of vindication knowing his wallet would be considerably lighter with the tightly secured storage facility she insisted on. "Serves him right." She waited at the entrance and took sadistic pleasure in the defeated look on his face when he came out of the building. "Alright. Show me where I'll be staying."

Yamato decided the streets would have to suffice. He didn't think his leg would hold up much longer and he was getting increasingly queasy from the pain coming from every area of his body. At this rate, he worried he may not even make it to the hospital. A grunt sounded from behind him and he turned just in time to catch Sakura's suitcase and toiletry bag. "I don't know why I'm carrying these! All of this is _your_ fault."

She wasn't exactly being fair, but Yamato was still in no shape to stand up to her so he shouldered her bag and picked up the suitcase with his good arm without so much as a sigh of protest. However, seeing all the odd looks they were getting, he did worry about her professional reputation. "Sakura, people are going to wonder why I'm carrying your things while injured and why you, a top medic, are doing nothing to heal me."

Sakura's deadly green glare stared unblinkingly into his own dark eyes. "I'm sure once they see the ruins of my house and that monstrously huge deck they'll put two and two together."

He would have pouted as he continued to silently limp home, but the bruising and cuts around his mouth made pouting painful.

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Yamato swung open the door of his tiny apartment and gestured for Sakura to enter. "Home sweet home."

Sakura looked around and noticed the single bedroom. "I'm guessing you'll be sleeping on the couch until my house is rebuilt."

With a sigh, Yamato set her things down in his bedroom and then flopped heavily onto the couch. Sakura was about to scold him for not offering her anything to drink, but bit her tongue when she noticed the sweat beading on his face despite the cool weather and the shallow breaths he was taking. "Hey, are you alright?"

Despite her anger, she was still a medic, he was still a friend, and she still cared about him. She meant to make him suffer for a while, but she had been so mad that she didn't see just how badly she had injured him. She winced as she took in the swollen ankle that was probably fractured, the dislocated elbow and the multiple bruises and cuts along his arms and face. One eye was swollen shut and when he winced after shifting his leg, one of the cuts around his mouth pulled open again. "Oh my god! Yamato, I'm so sorry!"

She knelt in front of him and set to work on his ankle and leg, green chakra swirling around the injuries as she healed him. "I wanted to punish you but I didn't realize how severe your injuries were. Why didn't you say anything, dummy?!"

Yamato's mouth dropped in shock, which caused a gasp of pain. "Really?!" He fixed the medic with a look that told her he knew better than to speak without being spoken to today.

Sakura snapped her eyes back to her task with a frown on her face. "Shut up." She knew just as well as he did that she would have pummeled him to hell and back for one wrong word after the day's events.

Once his ankle mended and she moved onto his elbow she continued speaking. "This in no way means you're even _close_ to forgiven. But I don't like seeing my friends in pain."

Yamato waited until his mouth was healed before speaking. "We're still friends?" He gave her an adorable and hopeful smile and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm incredibly pissed at you and probably will be for a long time, but yes we are still friends." She gave him a tiny smile back as she finished mending his face and then instructed him to lie down. "Just rest for a while. When you wake up you should feel in top shape again."

"Thank you, Sakura." He gripped her hand and gave her a sleepy smile before drifting off.

She couldn't help the little smile that slipped out. Yamato was just too cute sometimes. "Baka."

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Yamato woke up feeling at the top of his game, except for his overly full bladder. He rushed over to his bathroom and tried to enter, but the door wouldn't budge.

Sakura's cheery sing-song voice called out, "Occupied!"

Yamato winced slightly. "Um...I don't mean to sound crass, Sakura-chan, but will you be out soon?"

Sakura smirked to herself as she sat reading her magazine. She wasn't using the facilities, but just knowing Yamato was squirming was bliss to the still-irate kunoichi. "Beauty treatments, Yamato. Sorry, but I won't come out until these are done."

His muffled voice floated back through the door. "Sakura-chan, please. I really need to...uh...use the restroom." Even though it was starting to hurt, he didn't want to be rude to a lady. Phrasing his sentences was starting to become a little difficult.

Sakura's devilish smirk grew wider. "You'll either have to hold it or go elsewhere. I've got a good 20 minutes left on this facial." She flipped another magazine page with a wide smile on her face.

Yamato's jaw unhinged and the man was left slightly dancing and looking around for somewhere he could get to quickly. As he glanced out his window, he gave a slight cheer that he lived on the outskirts of the city and the woods were right there.

Sakura heard him take off and poked her head out of the bathroom doorway, mischievous smile still in tact. "This is so much fun."

She didn't hate Yamato, but dammit! Her house was gone and she was going to make him pay her back in her own warped ways.

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Sakura's offer to cook dinner that evening was met with resistance from Yamato. "Sakura, I know what you're planning to do. You're going to make something that looks and smells wonderful but it's going to taste awful. You're going to figure out someway to make me eat it and I'm going to have to suffer through it."

Pink hair shifted as Sakura shook her head in the negative. "Why Yamato! So little faith." She let a smile slip again as she spoke seriously to him. "I wouldn't do that, Yamato. I promise. You can even watch me cook if you want. I just feel bad about how beaten up you were."

One eyebrow rose as the elite jounin regarded her. He smirked as he figured he had called her bluff. "Fine. I _will_ watch you cook."

Sakura smiled brightly. "Good. Just let me wash my hands and I'll be right back."

As Yamato watched the young woman mix and stir, he smiled. Everything seemed genuine so far. There had been no awkward movements or suspicious glances from Sakura. He continued to watch as she stirred and his smile widened when she smiled and shook her head. "What are you smiling about, criminal?"

Yamato chuckled. "Criminal?! How did I get that label?"

"Easy. You broke my house, which counts as vandalism, which is a criminal act. So, you are a criminal."

As the two continued their banter and Yamato was distracted, Sakura craftily channeled some chakra through the wooden spoon she was using, pouring a jutsu into the soup. She had formed the hand seals after washing her hands in the bathroom and cleverly stored the chakra for the jutsu in her wrist, waiting for the right moment to let it seep into the food. Mad cackling bounced around in her skull as she continued to cook.

She set the rice, vegetables, meat and soup on the table once she was finished. "See? You watched me cook the whole thing."

Yamato nodded. "Okay, so you were sincere. I apologize for not trusting you."

He grew a little suspicious when he noticed Sakura wasn't getting any of the soup. "What's wrong with the soup, Sakura?"

Her green eyes rolled. "You've known me for how many years? I don't like this kind of soup, remember?"

Thinking back, Yamato realized she was right. "Then why did you make it?"

"Well, it's your favorite, isn't it?"

The wood user smiled brightly at her. "It is. Thank you, Sakura." He completely missed her devilish smile as he sipped on his bowl of soup.

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After dinner, the two sat watching the news on Yamato's tiny TV. Sakura watched him squirm and pull at his collar as beads of sweat formed on his upper lip. She cheered inside her head that her plan had worked, but feigned concern on the outside. "Are you feeling okay, Yamato?"

He began to fan himself with a magazine that was sitting on his coffee table. "I'm hot. Do you feel hot?"

"I'm actually a little chilly. Did you have a fever earlier? It may be breaking. That can make you feel hot."

Yamato shook his head before a grimace broke out on his face. When the first cramp hit him and he groaned, Sakura gave a little huff of laughter. He looked at her in disbelief. "What did you do?"

Sakura just laughed harder. "You may want to make your way into the bathroom. Could get a little messy."

He muttered "bitch" before making a beeline for the bathroom.

Sakura didn't know whether to be offended or not. She knew he had to be in some serious pain. The laxative jutsu she had used on him was a potent one. Her earlier laughter died as the first stings of guilt began to gnaw at her. For the first time, she began to feel some responsibility for her predicament. She began to realize she had been much harder on the man than he deserved. And that muttered curse bothered her a lot.

Sakura had been called a bitch numerous times. It came with the territory of being a lead medic and a no-nonsense ninja. However, none of her boys had ever called her a bitch unless they were joking around. Yamato had never even said anything remotely mean to her, which made the word bite that much harder.

She fell asleep uneasily that night, knowing Yamato would be spending the rest of it in the bathroom.

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Sakura woke up earlier than Yamato did the next morning. Of course the poor man had gotten very little sleep so she expected that. Feeling remorse all over again, she started making his favorite omelet for breakfast, sort of a peace offering.

Yamato woke up to the banging sounds in his kitchen and glared at Sakura as he poured out the coffee she had brewing and started up a new pot. He eyed the omelet she was making and Sakura smiled hesitantly at him. "I'm really sorry about last night. Really, I am. I didn't realize how unfair I was being and I know the fault for what's going on partly lies with me."

He nodded without saying anything and Sakura plated the omelet and sat it in his place at the table. He glared at the omelet and then dumped it in the trash. "I'll get my own breakfast, thanks. You clearly can't be trusted."

Normally, Sakura would whirl around and start beating the crap out of anyone who said something like that to her. But the fact that it was the kind-hearted Yamato saying it, the fact that it was one of her treasured friends making such a cruel statement made her heart twist. Sakura stood there for a second with her back to Yamato, the tension in the room keeping her rooted to her spot. Finally she managed to make her feet obey her brain and made her way back into the bedroom.

The door shut and Yamato heard a few muffled sobs before running his hands down his tired face with a groan. He was torn on what to do. He didn't want to be the victim of anymore of her pranks or tricks, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings either. He made his way to the door and leaned against the wall next to it. "Sakura, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, but I was tired of you being so mean to me. I just want things to be normal between us." Yamato decided to wait it out when she didn't respond. She would make some sort of move sometime, he just had to be patient.

Sakura emerged a few minutes later with her bag slung over her shoulder. Yamato stood in front of her, arms crossed. "Where do you think you're going?"

"A hotel. I'm clearly not welcome here anymore and I don't want our friendship to end. Yes, you..." she paused to mend her statement, "_we_...destroyed my house. Yes, I've been cruel in my revenge so far. No, I'm not entirely over the loss of my home. But I don't want to lose a good friend, either. If I leave, maybe we can mend our relationship and be friends again."

The sudden embrace from Yamato made her face flame and she dropped her bag in shock. He had never hugged her before. "Don't leave, Sakura. I promise to be nicer if you do the same. If you leave, it's the same as running and that won't solve any of our problems." He pulled back and gave her a killer smile.

She slowly nodded and Yamato nodded back. "Good. Go put your stuff away and I'll get dressed. We can go out to breakfast."

As soon as she shut the door behind her, a stupefied Sakura stared into space. She had liked that hug from Yamato far more than she should have. She had hugged all of her boys before, except Yamato. For some reason, he always kept his distance. Naruto's hugs were tight and bone-crushing. Sai's hugs were a little clumsy and awkward. Kakashi's hugs had always been like hugging a favorite uncle with a playful hair ruffle following, when she could corner him long enough to get a hug. Or got him drunk enough. Yamato's hug had been completely different from all of those. It was warm and inviting and comforting and made her feel safe and special. With his arms and clean scent surrounding her she didn't want him to pull back. She felt like she belonged there.

She shook her head of the odd thought. _'I'm just being stupid. Today's been emotional and rough so far. Things will make sense later._' Her stomach gurgled and she smiled. _'Time to put my stuff away and get some food!'_

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A/N: Yay! I finally managed to get chapter 2 out. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long, but don't hold your breath or anything like that. Reviews loved an appreciated. Smooches!


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